Welsh council gets ready for HMRC real-time reporting

Council working with Logica to replace legacy systems

Ceredigion County Council in mid-west Wales has brought in Logica to replace its legacy payroll system, to enable it to be compliant with the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) real-time information (RTI) system for reporting pay, tax, National Insurance and other details.

The RTI system becomes mandatory next year. Additionally the council will be able to consider implementing self-service and HR modules once the payroll project has been completed.

W. Gwyn Jones, Ceredigion director of finance, said: “The contract places the council in a good position to implement a new payroll system that will be fully compliant with HMRC’s reporting requirements with effect from April 2013.”

The deployment will begin with Logica’s payroll bureau service, with an option for the council to modernise its HR systems. The contract will last for a maximum of seven years, the value of which has not been disclosed.

The All-Party Parliamentary Taxation Group (APPTG) recently slammed HMRC’s delivery of the real-time information system, claiming that the speed at which it is being implemented “threatens every business and benefit claimant in the UK”.

This is despite HMRC recently announcing that more than 1,300 employers will now join the PAYE RTI pilot by the end of September.